Misuse of a Perfectly Good Plasma Cutter

[DrBob]

Originally Posted by moe1942

I saw somewhere that you bought a chinese plasma cutter. Would you care to share your expeience and what brand??


Moe

Yes I bought a longevity. www.longevity.com It's a 40 Amp 220V cutter and will handle anything up to about 5/16" in one clean pass. I don't need it often as I'm only a hobbyist but when I need it nothing else will do. I have found:
Get the air pressure right.
Get the current right for the material you're cutting.
USE A GUIDE - especially if you're a shaky old man
Plan the cut so you will move right along without hesitation.
Practice the cut power off
I bought a whole bunch of consumables but somehow I am still on the first set that came with the machine! it still cuts clean and straight.

The other morning I broke my plastic shoehorn. I went down to the shop and traced a shoehorn shape on a piece of 1/8" steel sheet, I clamped it to my plasma table and freehanded the shape - 5 minutes elapsed time. I put a piece of 11/4" sched 40 pipe in my vise and pounded the sheet into a concave shape with a plastic mallet. I spent another 5 minutes with an angle grinder and some 220 grit by hand. The plasma cuts were so clean that the edges of the cut were sharp! Total time less than 15 minutes. I got my slightly tight office shoes on and was off to work in time to start my day. Now try that with a scroll saw!
I have posted some pictures of the unit in the thread in which I built the plasma table.
Hope this helps.

DrBob

[moe1942]

Thanks Bob. Got your PM..

[Mild Steel]

Misuse of a plasma cutter....bah....humbug! You used it to cut metal into something useful and that's what counts.

[madam X]

Pictures of the shoehorn, please?

A video of it in operation might be overkill.

[DrBob]

Originally Posted by madam X

Pictures of the shoehorn, please?

A video of it in operation might be overkill.

Here are top and bottom views of the shoehorn in question along with the broken end of the original plastic one (which I umnh appropriated from a local shoestore at the mall). Bear in mind that it went from a sheet of rusty steel to a finished shoehorn in 14 minutes as I was going to work one morning. Cutter will appreciate the lack of paint.

DrBob

As for the video I couldn't hold the camera and the shoehorn and step into the shoe all at once. Not enough hands!

[cutter]

That really looks very good, doc but you're going to need a longer one for your cowboy boots.

[Vernon]

Wow Dr Bob that looks really nice you should sell them. I think it looks as good or better than the stores. Thanks for posting Vernon

[DrBob]

Originally Posted by Vernon

Wow Dr Bob that looks really nice you should sell them. I think it looks as good or better than the stores. Thanks for posting Vernon

Originally Posted by cutter

That really looks very good, doc but you're going to need a longer one for your cowboy boots.

Thanks Vernon and Cutter but praise is undeserved. I only mentioned it to illustrate the usefulness of a plasma cutter.

As for a longer model It will have to wait until I actually own a pair of cowboy boots.

Vernon, I have a deal with DSW (shoe store): They don't give medical advice and I don't sell shoehorns.

Madam X I hope you're satisfied. You've created a tempest in a teapot unh - shoe.

DrBob

[madam X]

Originally Posted by DrBob

Madam X I hope you're satisfied. You've created a tempest in a teapot unh - shoe.

Thank you!

I just think it's so cool that you recognized that you could make one and then did it on the fly. No advance instructions, advice or researching on the 'net, no dithering over which piece of scrap to use, nada. You had a vision.

You've got tools to make tools.

(you might want to put tripod on your wishlist for future videos of the tempest )

[moe1942]

Originally Posted by madam X

Thank you!

I just think it's so cool that you recognized that you could make one and then did it on the fly. No advance instructions, advice or researching on the 'net, no dithering over which piece of scrap to use, nada. You had a vision.

You've got tools to make tools.

(you might want to put tripod on your wishlist for future videos of the tempest )

I have a vision too...